This woman says delays in her Universal Credit payments forced her to choose between gas and electricity and rely on handouts from foodbanks to feed her children.

And Penelope Goodfellow felt that throughout the 'awful ordeal' the people who were advising her didn't know enough about the new payment - which is being rolled out in North East Lincolnshire next month.

But today, after being contacted by the Grimsby Telegraph, the Department For Work and Pensions has apologised to Mrs Goodfellow and promised that her payments will now arrive on time. And thanks to our phone call to them about her case, it has also been discovered that she was owed a further £600.

Penelope Goodfellow from Grimsby was left in debt following problems with Universal Credit (Image: Grimsby Telegraph)

Mrs Goodfellow, of Cromer Avenue, had been receiving Universal Credit while she was living with an ex-partner who was also on the system, which meant that their payments were paid to both of them in one single sum that went into her former partner's account.

But when they split up in December last year, she was told she no longer qualified for it and would have to sign-up for other benefits before eventually re-enrolling for Universal Credit.

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She said: "It didn't really make much sense to me at the time, because I thought that once you were on Universal Credit you could never be taken off it again, but I just wanted to get my payments so I went along with everything.

"After applying for all these new benefits I had waited about five or six weeks only to be told that I shouldn't be applying for them and I should be on Universal Credit, meaning that I had to re-apply for that again and wait another six weeks before I got another payment.

Penelope Goodfellow with her daughter Marnie. Penelope ended up over £900 in debt due to payment delays with Universal Credit.

"This meant that from December to the beginning of March, I was left with nothing except the wages from my part-time job to feed me and my children, as well as pay the rent and provide heating and electricity.

"It was horrendous, I would spend hours on the phone trying to get some answers and when I went to other agencies to ask for help nobody seemed educated on what Universal Credit actually means and it felt like I was teaching them rather than them giving me advice.

"I am not some benefit scrounger who has lived their life on the dole, I work whenever I can, but it seems to me that this system hasn't been properly thought through and implemented, nobody seems to know what is going on and how to help you."

However once confirmed onto Universal Credit, which only happened following an intervention from local MP Melanie Onn, the problems still persisted for Mrs Goodfellow, as month after month she found that none of her payments actually went into her account.

To make matters worse, she later discovered that the child benefit payments she was meant to receive as part of the service actually went to her former partner, who has nothing to do with her children.

She said: "It really puts you in a horrible position, there were many times where I had to reach out to foodbanks in order to put food on the table, and when it came to my bills I would have to pay my rent first, and then choose between gas or electric, so we never had any heating last winter as I would pick electricity over gas so that we could have warm water.

"It is almost like the system is set up to discourage you from trying to claim, and if that is the case then it is working.

"If it wasn't for the help and support of my family and friends I really do not know what I would have done.

"If my children's father wasn't so helpful then I wouldn't have been able to give them anything at all for Christmas which would have utterly broken my heart, and I am still in debt to him today as he has given me financial assistance throughout it all.

A DWP spokesperson said: "We have been in touch with Mrs Goodfellow to apologise for the difficulties she experienced at the start of her claim, and to reassure her that further Universal Credit payments will continue to be paid on time."